Flogging Molly front man Dave King came on stage at Sands Bethlehem Event Center on Thursday apologizing that one of the two opening acts the band was supposed to have never made it to the show.

No worries, King told the crowd, “We’ll play a f---ing extra half hour.”

Flogging Molly, with Dave King at center

That was a bit of blarney. The set the six-member Irish band played not only was the one it had prepared for the night, but essentially the one it’s been doing all along its current tour.

But that didn’t diminish the thought – that Flogging Molly plays its heart out with, as King promised in the same opening remarks, “lots of dancing, lots of singing and lots of smiling faces.”

There was all that in an hour-and-50-minute blast that had the intricate instrumentation of Celtic music but the agitated spirit of punk.

Both those things were on display from the opening “The Likes of You Again,” which started from a slow prelude of fiddle and accordion into a whirlwind that had King dancing around the stage and the crowd – likely around 3,000 -- pumping its fists.

And, after King cheekily drank a beer “toast” to the crowd – he drank at least three of those on the night – the audience erupted even more for a rollicking “Swagger.”

That was just the first two songs of a 23-song set that carried those elements of Celtic and punk throughout.

The Celtic element was evident on “Life in a Tenement Square,” with Bridget Regan on tin whistle an two predominantly acoustic tunes, “The Son Never Shines (On Closed Doors) “ and “A Prayer for Me in Silence,” on which Regan sang with King (who is her husband).

But the epitome of the Celtic spirit was “Whistles the Wind” – a perfect combination of fiddle and accordion to capture the forlorn feeling of lost love..

But thankfully, it punk was more prevalent. King did a jig as he strummed his acoustic guitar madly and spit out the words to the title track of the band’s newest disc, “Speed of Darkness.” On “Revolution,” with its layered vocals, guitarist Dennis Casey did a split jump like Dee Dee Ramone.

After spotting a kid in the crowd wearing a Clash T-shirt, King dedicated the new “Saints and Sinners” to that band’s iconic front man, Joe Strummer, and channeled Strummer’s spirit on the song – shaking with intensity as he sang the line “save me Jesus!”

“Pennsylvania, get on your dancing shoes,” King told the crowd on “Drunken Lullabies” – and dance they did. Flogging Molly tied that tight to one of the night’s best songs, a very punk “Requiem for a Dying Song” – the band’s biggest hit, with Kings’s words biting and spitting as he hopped around stage.

Even the new songs conveyed punk spirit. In classic punk fashion, “The Power’s Out” railed against those who pull the strings, and by the end of the thumping song, the crowd was pumping its fists along.

Before playing a punk version of Bob Dylan’s “The Times, They Are A-Changin’ “ – which the band contributed as a standout cut to the Dylan tribute/Amnesty International charity album “Chimes of Freedom,” King noted Thursday was Dylan’s 71st birthday and sang “Happy Birthday” to him.

That song was another highlight of the set, with each verse starting as a measured Celtic chantey, only to burst into punk.

The band played a 13-minute version of its early song “Black Friday Rule,” again starting classically Celtic, then leaving the stage to only Casey and drummer George Schwindt for a five-minute jam. When the band returned, King joined the drummer on his kit, then high-stepped a jig till the song’s end.

The show finished even stronger. By the time Flogging Molly played “Rebels of the Sacred Heart” two-thirds of the way through the show, the rowdy crowd had formed a full-bore circle-slam pit. And for “Devil’s Dance Floor,” people all the way to the back of the crowd were dancing.

“If I Ever Leave This World Alive” was traditionally Celtic, with a mournful violin. But King yelled the lyrics – and he, too, danced. “Your dancing skills are epic,” he told the crowd.

That ran right into a wonderful “What’s Left of the Flag,” with which the crowd sang along.

And then they closed the main set with “Seven Deadly Sins.”

The band returned with “The Worst Day Since Yesterday,” from its first album.

“There’s no way getting from this one,” King said, as he started the song on acoustic guitar with drums before the full band joined him.

And then they went out with the favorites “Salty Dog” and “Float,” which he dedicated to the memory of the rusting Bethlehem Steel that surrounds the Sands Event Center.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re from Dublin or Bethlehem or Detroit,” King told the crowd. “Life is about one thing: sticking together and keeping your head above water.”

And a band that can pull together Celtic and punk music as well as Flogging Molly should keep its head held high.

This was our 5th time seeing Flogging Molly since 2007 & the closest that we got to the stage. They are consistently the most passionate band about their music & make it sound like it's the first time they're doing this set of songs every time. One of the hardest working/touring bands out there!

Posted By: Kim Fritzinger | May 29, 2012 10:57:12 AM

Leave A Comment

NOTE: Please express your opinions in a civil and respectful manner. Insensitive, inflammatory and derogatory comments will be removed at our discretion.

JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.